Friends of a former proprietor of a beloved Port Moody shop are rallying to help her get treatment for a debilitating chronic health condition.
Heather Wallace-Barnes, who ran Pinball Alley on St. Johns Street with her husband, Johnny until they sold the business in 2019 to pursue their dreams of travelling and living in Spain, has been diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS.
The affliction, that impacts between 0.1% and 1% of the general population, causes an elevated heart rate, fatigue, dizziness, chest pains, tremors and balance problems, especially when sufferers are standing upright. About 90% of patients are women, many between the ages of 13 and 40.
According tot he Canadian Journal of Cardiology, “if not adequately treated, POTS can become a debilitating disorder that can lead to impairment in quality of life and disability.”
Ami Peterson Resnick said the symptoms of her longtime friend worsened this year to the extent Wallace-Barnes has trouble walking and swallowing, sometimes confining her to bed for stretches at a time.
“Her condition is very sad for her boys, who find it hard to understand why their mom needs to be in bed so much,” she said.
Peterson Resnick has launched a fundraiser on the crowd-sourcing site GoFundMe in an effort to collect $6,000 so Wallace-Barnes can receive specialized treatment from a neurosurgeon in Barcelona, Spain. As of Tuesday morning, July 28, the fundraising effort had collected more than $5,400.
Peterson Resnick said her friend chose that doctor “because if surgery is required, the cost in Spain is almost half of that in the U.S.A.,” adding the specific type of spinal operation that relieves compression in the brain stem, vertebral arteries and various nerves has helped other people with POTS but is not performed in Canada.
In March, Wallace-Barnes wrote on her Facebook page that she’d had a major flare up of her condition while visiting London in January, a Christmas gift from her husband who crews tours with musicians like Michael Bublé. She said she was admitted to hospital for IV fluids and monitoring but was well enough to travel on to Spain two days later. But her condition worsened and she had to be retrieved by her father two weeks later.
“The trip taught me just how fragile my health is,” she said.
Pinball Alley opened in 2014 and quickly became a destination for its eclectic selection of vintage clothes and curios, as well as Johnny Barnes’ extensive collection of more than 5,000 vinyl record albums. The shop was recognized with several Spike and A-List business awards.
After its new owners tried to reimagine the shop with an edgier, more punk sensibility, they closed it earlier this year.
